Ian Holloway appeared to be in awe of West Ham midfielder Declan Rice while delivering his verdict on the player.
The former QPR manager shared he had previously had a couple of Hammers fans stop him to ask him for his thoughts on the 20-year-old midfield enforcer, but at that time, he hadn’t seen him play.
Yet after witnessing him in action, Holloway couldn’t say enough nice words about Rice and claimed the player moved like a Rolls Royce.
“For a debut (England) it was incredible…” said Holloway on talkSPORT (Saturday March 20th, 8:23am).
“Yeah but the move from centre-half into the centre of midfield..erm, I was surprised at first and I had a couple of West Ham fans stop me and say you never mention Declan Rice and I was like I haven’t seen him play.
“But wow, he is not just destroying in that role, he is creating as well, as he drives forward with it, and he moves like a Rolls Royce, and I thought that was such an impressive debut, he made the team even better, so well done for us (England) to spot hat.
“He’s been in an awkward position cause he played for Ireland but it’s not his fault.”
OPINION
Rice certainly has a new member of his fan club in Holloway based on his remarks. The manager was even ready to defend him when it came to the player switching his allegiances from Republic of Ireland to England. Hopefully Holloway won’t have to do that anytime soon though as the debate about which nation Rice should play for, must be put to bed and ignored after he made his debut for England. Also while Holloway’s praise for Rice is high, it’s easily justified. The 20-year-old has excelled as a defensive midfielder for Manuel Pellegrini’s side this season, so much so, it was no surprise how quickly he was called into the England squad after becoming available. Rice is able to be extra layer of steel in front of a side’s defence but due to his passing and desire to get forward, he does play a useful part when his team on the attack. Hopefully Rice is able to keep his impressive form going as long as possible, as if that’s the case, his future looks very bright.
